Aaron Escamilla was riding a bicycle on the railroad tracks around 8:45 p.m. when he fell off the bike in the crossing with Schulte Road and was hit by a car traveling in the westbound lane, according to traffic officer Vince Weyant with the Tracy Police Department.
Weyant said on Thursday, Feb. 7, that the victim “was struck by a dark-colored, possibly black, small to medium sized vehicle.”
The crossing is on Schulte Road between Lauriana Lane and Sycamore Parkway in central Tracy.
“Based on witnesses, he crashed and as he was trying to get up back to his (bicycle) seat,” Weyant said. “The car did not stop and continued westbound.”
The officer said Escamilla was flown by medical helicopter to Doctors Hospital in Modesto with a hip injury and head trauma. He was pronounced dead by hospital staff at 10 p.m.
Witnesses driving by stopped to give aid to Escamilla, Weyant said.
The roadway was closed to traffic for sometime Wednesday night while police conducted an investigation.
Weyant said that the incident was being categorized as a hit and run vehicle collision and not a homicide.
Anyone with information about the incident should call the Tracy Police Department traffic unit at 831-6540.
• Contact Denise Ellen Rizzo at 830-4225 or drizzo@tracypress.com.
We are upset about some of the conditions in Tracy but instead of making remarks on here we have to start being more concerned citizens and change Tracy to be more safer for all of US. This WAS an accident until this person who killed my brother took off. I appreciate everyone who is reading but if ANYONE out there has any information please think of his family, his daughter, his parents, his brother and sister, and all his family and friends, WE are the ones that have to live with not knowing what happened. WE live with this everyday. WE are the ones that stay up at night and cry. I hope the person who did this finds it in their heart to just turn themselves in, running only makes it worse.
Thank you again to everyone who has kept my family in prayer and sent their love and respects
I am not going to troll this website anymore and it does a disservice to the good people of this town.
If anyone has heard anything, do the RIGHT THING and call the TRACY POLICE DEPARTMENT!
Shulte and Corral Hollow are very dangerous roads. I remember when that young kid got killed on his skateboard. I always feel this town is not a safe town for alternate means of transportation.
I think it is too dangerous in this town to do pedestrian activities at night the way people speed. And during the day people seem to veer into bike lanes, get mad at bikers for slowing them down, and cut off pedestrians in crosswalks!
And the area by Kimball High needs to have better pedestrian access as well. I have seen children walking the side of the road on Lamers amongst speeding cars, as there is no other way to get to Corral Hollow Rd.
And even then, you are not supposed to ride a bike through a crosswalk. Bikes are supposed to obey the rules of the road, the same as cars.
But there are too many people in this town that try to skirt around the rules. Ride all over the side walk, the road, the tracks, people's property, etc. The rules of the ROAD are for YOUR SAFETY people. Especially at NIGHT.
As for the coward who hit and ran? That does not surprise me. Probably another low life from East Oakland or East San Jose, or possibly a drunk redneck/pisa in their pick up truck. Same as every hit and run it Tracy.
We should all take this as a reminder that we need to be cautious when bicycling or driving.
As usual the TP article lacks information. Did witnesses think the car was speeding, were its lights on, did the bicyclist have the required lights and reflectors, etc..
While its reasonable to be angry with the driver fleeing, and that in itself warrants several years in jail, the driver may or may not have been at fault for the accident. The article lacks basic information necessary to even begin forming an opinion on that.
"Cinnamon"
Everytime you eat something with that spice,see the word on a package of food, or smell it in the air. Think about Aaron's five year old daughter that can't understand why her dad is dead.
Her name is "Cinnamon", Aaron was a son, brother, uncle and a dad. All these people are missing him.
I'm sure you have family,try to think how they would feel if you were the victim and nobody came forth to turn themself in. We can't bring Aaron back, but we can bring closure to his death.
Shame on you for letting three days go by so far, and not doing the right thing.
So go eat, smell, read the word "Cinnamon" and think about the 5 year old who's Dad you killed.
To Chris Roberts,you shouldn't be writing rude comments. This family is mourning, they don't need negative comments. If you can't say something nice to them, don't comment. You think about Cinnamon too, because someday when she is older she will Goggle her dad's name and read what you wrote. That's not right.
Needless to say who ever did this needs to be held accountable and I pray that they do. I do not understand what kind of person would just drive off after something like that, and I am sorry for your families loss.
Also, a plea to all you youngsters out there to NOT wear dark clothing at night while riding a bike. Wear something reflective.
To the driver: you should turn yourself in asap.
Also for mrmnfallacy - just fyi - it was not a big behemouth SUV. Imagine that.